Needs you: a waiting chat shows the question it waits on, not the agent's last message

webviews/src/agent-session/acpmux/Localizable.xcstrings

@@ -209740,6 +209740,138 @@
         }
       }
     },
+    "needsYou.waitingPermission": {
+      "comment": "Agent pane: a Needs you item for a chat that waits on the person to allow a tool, when which tool cannot be read here",
+      "extractionState": "manual",
+      "localizations": {
+        "ar": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "بانتظار سماحك بأداة"
+          }
+        },
+        "bs": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "Čeka da dozvolite alat"
+          }
+        },
+        "da": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "Venter på, at du tillader et værktøj"
+          }
+        },
+        "de": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "Wartet, dass du ein Werkzeug erlaubst"
+          }
+        },
+        "en": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "translated",
+            "value": "Waiting for you to allow a tool"
+          }
+        },
+        "es": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "Esperando que permitas una herramienta"
+          }
+        },
+        "fr": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "Attend que vous autorisiez un outil"
+          }
+        },
+        "it": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "In attesa che tu consenta uno strumento"
+          }
+        },
+        "ja": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "ツールの許可を待っています"
+          }
+        },
+        "km": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "កំពុងរង់ចាំអ្នកអនុញ្ញាតឧបករណ៍មួយ"
+          }
+        },
+        "ko": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "도구 허용을 기다리는 중"
+          }
+        },
+        "nb": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "Venter på at du tillater et verktøy"
+          }
+        },
+        "pl": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "Czeka, aż zezwolisz na narzędzie"
+          }
+        },
+        "pt-BR": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "Aguardando você permitir uma ferramenta"
+          }
+        },
+        "ru": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "Ждёт, пока вы разрешите инструмент"
+          }
+        },
+        "th": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "กำลังรอให้คุณอนุญาตเครื่องมือ"
+          }
+        },
+        "tr": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "Bir araca izin vermenizi bekliyor"
+          }
+        },
+        "uk": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "Чекає, поки ви дозволите інструмент"
+          }
+        },
+        "vi": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "Đang chờ bạn cho phép một công cụ"
+          }
+        },
+        "zh-Hans": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "等待你允许一个工具"
+          }
+        },
+        "zh-Hant": {
+          "stringUnit": {
+            "state": "needs_review",
+            "value": "等待你允許一個工具"
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    },
     "needsYou.chief": {
       "comment": "Agent pane: who asked, when the Chief agent asked",
       "extractionState": "manual",

webviews/src/agent-session/acpmux/needsYou/NeedsYou.gallery.ts

@@ -92,17 +92,31 @@ const sessions = [
     indicator: "input",
     updatedAt: ago(14),
   }),
+  // Its ask lives on the other computer: the row reads the question acpmux names
+  // (`waitingPrompt`), never the agent's last message (`preview`).
   session({
     sessionId: "s-remote",
     title: "Release notes on build box",
     host: "build-box",
     hostKind: "cloud",
+    peer: "build-box",
     indicator: "input",
+    pendingPermissions: 1,
     // Its ask lives on the build box: the row says the question its summary names, never this reply.
-    preview: "Drafted the notes from the merged pull requests.",
     waitingOn: { on: "question", prompt: "Which tag should the notes start from?" },
+    preview: "I drafted the notes from the merged PRs since the last nightly.",
     updatedAt: ago(32),
   }),
+  // A permission whose tool is not read here reads as a permission, not a question.
+  session({
+    sessionId: "s-grouped",
+    title: "Clean the build cache",
+    pendingPermissions: 1,
+    indicator: "input",
+    waitingOn: { on: "permission" },
+    preview: "The cache holds 14 GB of old builds.",
+    updatedAt: ago(45),
+  }),
 ];
 
 const rows = [
@@ -135,12 +149,12 @@ export default agentPaneEntry({
   covers: ["agent-session/acpmux/needsYou/NeedsYou.tsx", "agent-session/acpmux/needsYou/JumpPill.tsx#NeedsYouPill"],
   variants: {
     list: {
-      note: "The list open: this chat's command, the Chief's merge, a subagent's choice, a verify ask and a chat on another computer.",
+      note: "The list open: this chat's command, the Chief's merge, a subagent's choice, a verify ask, a question on another computer (its prompt, not the last message) and a permission not read here.",
       snapshot: snapshot(),
       play: openList,
     },
     "badge-and-pill": {
-      note: "Closed: the badge counts five asks and Jump to latest reads Needs your input · 5.",
+      note: "Closed: the badge counts six asks and Jump to latest reads Needs your input · 6.",
       snapshot: snapshot(),
     },
     "pill-one-ask": {

webviews/src/agent-session/acpmux/needsYou/NeedsYou.tsx

@@ -363,10 +363,11 @@ function Avatar({ item }: { item: NeedsYouItem }) {
   );
 }
 
-/// The ask's line: its own text, else what its kind says.
+/// The ask's line: its own text, else what its kind says (a permission asks to allow, anything
+/// else for an answer).
 export function askText(item: NeedsYouItem, t: Translate): string {
   if (item.kind === "held") return t("needsYou.held", { n: item.held ?? 1, peer: item.ask });
-  return item.ask || t("needsYou.waiting");
+  return item.ask || t(item.kind === "approval" ? "needsYou.waitingPermission" : "needsYou.waiting");
 }
 
 /// The side session's first prompt (`_acpmux/btw`): the ask, then the person's question, so the

webviews/src/agent-session/acpmux/needsYou/model.ts

@@ -104,21 +104,14 @@ export function needsYouItems(input: NeedsYouInput): NeedsYouItem[] {
       });
     }
   }
-  // A chat that waits on the person with no ask read here (a chat on another computer, or one
-  // whose ask is still being read): one item, so it is never missing from the list. Its summary
-  // still names what it waits on (acpmux `waitingOn`, with a question's first prompt): the row
-  // says that question; only a chat that names no question falls back to its last reply.
+  // A chat that waits on the person with no ask read here (a chat on another computer, a grouped
+  // request, or one whose ask is still being read): one item, so it is never missing from the list.
   for (const session of input.sessions) {
-    if (asked.has(session.sessionId) || session.archived) continue;
-    if (session.indicator !== "input" && !(session.pendingPermissions && session.pendingPermissions > 0)) continue;
-    const waiting = session.waitingOn;
-    const prompt = waiting?.on === "question" ? waiting.prompt : undefined;
-    const ask = prompt ?? session.preview ?? "";
+    if (asked.has(session.sessionId) || session.archived || !waitsOnPerson(session)) continue;
     items.push({
       id: `chat:${session.sessionId}`,
-      kind: !waiting ? "input" : waiting.on === "permission" ? "approval" : VERIFY.test(ask) ? "verify" : "decision",
+      ...waitingAsk(session),
       sessionId: session.sessionId,
-      ask,
       who: who(session, session.sessionId, byId),
       ...(session.updatedAt ? { at: session.updatedAt } : {}),
       answers: [],
@@ -128,6 +121,29 @@ export function needsYouItems(input: NeedsYouInput): NeedsYouItem[] {
   return items.sort((a, b) => (b.at ?? 0) - (a.at ?? 0));
 }
 
+/// Something is pending on the person: acpmux counts an open request, names what the chat waits
+/// on, or says the chat is `waiting` (a secret request sets that with neither, hub/secrets.rs). A
+/// chat on another computer, or one whose status is unknown, still shows by its indicator alone. A
+/// local chat acpmux says is not waiting has nothing pending, whatever its dot last said.
+function waitsOnPerson(session: AcpmuxSessionEntry): boolean {
+  if ((session.pendingPermissions ?? 0) > 0 || session.waitingOn || session.status === "waiting") return true;
+  return session.indicator === "input" && (Boolean(session.peer) || session.status === undefined);
+}
+
+/// What a chat whose ask is not read here waits on, as acpmux names it: a question by its first
+/// prompt (`waitingPrompt`), a permission as a permission. Never the chat's last message
+/// (`preview`): that is what the agent said, not what it asks (Leo 2026-10-21). An empty ask
+/// reads as its kind's line (NeedsYou.tsx `askText`).
+function waitingAsk(session: AcpmuxSessionEntry): Pick<NeedsYouItem, "kind" | "ask"> {
+  const waiting = session.waitingOn;
+  if (waiting?.on === "question") {
+    const ask = waiting.prompt ?? "";
+    return { kind: VERIFY.test(ask) ? "verify" : "decision", ask };
+  }
+  if (waiting?.on === "permission") return { kind: "approval", ask: "" };
+  return { kind: "input", ask: "" };
+}
+
 function askItem(
   watched: WatchedAsk,
   session: AcpmuxSessionEntry | undefined,

webviews/test/agent-pane-needs-you.test.tsx

@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ test("a question with several items or many choices gets no one-click answers",
 test("a chat waiting with no readable ask still shows, once; an archived chat never does", () => {
   const items = needsYouItems({
     sessions: [
-      session("remote", { indicator: "input", updatedAt: 5, preview: "Pick a branch" }),
+      session("remote", { indicator: "input", peer: "build-box", updatedAt: 5, preview: "Pick a branch" }),
       session("counted", { pendingPermissions: 2 }),
       session("asked", { pendingPermissions: 1 }),
       session("gone", { indicator: "input", archived: true }),
@@ -125,13 +125,95 @@ test("a chat waiting with no readable ask still shows, once; an archived chat ne
   });
   expect(items.map((item) => item.id)).toEqual(["acpmux:p1", "chat:remote", "chat:counted"]);
   expect(items[1]!.kind).toBe("input");
-  expect(items[1]!.ask).toBe("Pick a branch");
+});
+
+// Leo 2026-10-21: the list said "Waiting 5m" for a chat and showed the agent's last message, not the
+// question it waited on. A chat whose ask is not read here shows what acpmux says it waits on: a
+// question by its prompt, a permission as a permission, and never the chat's last message.
+test("a waiting chat shows the question or permission it waits on, never its last message", () => {
+  const items = needsYouItems({
+    sessions: [
+      session("question", {
+        indicator: "input",
+        pendingPermissions: 1,
+        updatedAt: 9,
+        preview: "I compared both branches.",
+        waitingOn: { on: "question", prompt: "Which branch should the release start from?" },
+      }),
+      session("unworded", {
+        indicator: "input",
+        pendingPermissions: 1,
+        updatedAt: 8,
+        preview: "Here is the plan.",
+        waitingOn: { on: "question" },
+      }),
+      session("permission", {
+        indicator: "input",
+        pendingPermissions: 1,
+        updatedAt: 7,
+        preview: "Running the suite now.",
+        waitingOn: { on: "permission" },
+      }),
+      session("remote", { indicator: "input", peer: "build-box", updatedAt: 6, preview: "Drafted the notes." }),
+    ],
+    asks: [],
+  });
+  expect(items.map((item) => [item.id, item.kind, item.ask])).toEqual([
+    ["chat:question", "decision", "Which branch should the release start from?"],
+    ["chat:unworded", "decision", ""],
+    ["chat:permission", "approval", ""],
+    ["chat:remote", "input", ""],
+  ]);
+  const html = renderToStaticMarkup(
+    <NeedsYouPanel
+      items={items}
+      actions={{ answer: async () => undefined, goTo: () => undefined, ask: async () => "" }}
+    />,
+  );
+  expect(html).toContain("Which branch should the release start from?");
+  // A question reads as a question, a permission as a permission.
+  expect(html.split(translate("needsYou.waiting")).length - 1).toBe(2);
+  expect(html.split(translate("needsYou.waitingPermission")).length - 1).toBe(1);
+  expect(html).toContain(translate("needsYou.kind.decision"));
+  expect(html).toContain(translate("needsYou.kind.approval"));
+  for (const said of ["I compared both branches.", "Here is the plan.", "Running the suite now.", "Drafted the notes."])
+    expect(html).not.toContain(said);
+});
+
+test("a chat with nothing pending is not listed as waiting", () => {
+  // acpmux says the chat is idle: a stale dot claims no wait.
+  const items = needsYouItems({
+    sessions: [session("done", { status: "idle", indicator: "input", updatedAt: 5, preview: "All set." })],
+    asks: [],
+  });
+  expect(items).toEqual([]);
+});
+
+// Review of #23875: acpmux marks a chat `waiting` for a secret request too (hub/secrets.rs), with no
+// pending permission and no `waitingOn`. That chat stays listed, with the plain waiting line and
+// never its last message.
+test("a local chat waiting on a secret stays listed and shows no last message", () => {
+  const items = needsYouItems({
+    sessions: [
+      session("secret", { status: "waiting", indicator: "input", updatedAt: 5, preview: "I need the deploy token." }),
+    ],
+    asks: [],
+  });
+  expect(items.map((item) => [item.id, item.kind, item.ask])).toEqual([["chat:secret", "input", ""]]);
+  const html = renderToStaticMarkup(
+    <NeedsYouPanel
+      items={items}
+      actions={{ answer: async () => undefined, goTo: () => undefined, ask: async () => "" }}
+    />,
+  );
+  expect(html).toContain(translate("needsYou.waiting"));
+  expect(html).not.toContain("I need the deploy token.");
 });
 
 // Leo 2026-10-21: a row read "Waiting 5m" over the chat's last reply while a question waited. A chat
 // whose ask the page cannot read (another computer's) still names it in its summary (acpmux
-// `waitingOn`, `waitingPrompt`): the row shows that question; only a chat that names nothing falls
-// back to its last reply.
+// `waitingOn`, `waitingPrompt`): the row shows that question. A row never shows the last reply: a
+// chat that names no question text reads as its kind's line (NeedsYou.tsx `askText`).
 test("a waiting chat's row shows the question it waits on, not its last reply", () => {
   const items = needsYouItems({
     sessions: [
@@ -159,9 +241,9 @@ test("a waiting chat's row shows the question it waits on, not its last reply",
   });
   expect(items.map((item) => [item.id, item.kind, item.ask])).toEqual([
     ["chat:question", "decision", "Which branch should the docs target?"],
-    ["chat:permission", "approval", "The tests pass; pushing next."],
-    ["chat:unnamed", "decision", "Which tag should the notes start from?"],
-    ["chat:plain", "input", "Pick a branch"],
+    ["chat:permission", "approval", ""],
+    ["chat:unnamed", "decision", ""],
+    ["chat:plain", "input", ""],
   ]);
   expect(items.every((item) => item.answers.length === 0)).toBe(true);
   const html = renderToStaticMarkup(
@@ -262,7 +344,10 @@ test("an answer goes to the ask's own chat: a permission by option, a question i
     },
   });
   // A waiting chat with no ask read is answered at its source.
-  const waiting = needsYouItems({ sessions: [session("r", { indicator: "input" })], asks: [] })[0]!;
+  const waiting = needsYouItems({
+    sessions: [session("r", { indicator: "input", pendingPermissions: 1 })],
+    asks: [],
+  })[0]!;
   expect(answerParams(waiting, { id: "x", label: "x", tone: "choice" })).toBeUndefined();
 });